Search - Chalk :: Black Box Broken

Myriad influences

Jarret Green | St. Louis, MO | 03/26/2003

(4 out of 5 stars)

"I recently discovered this album ...The use of white space and composistion on the cover struck me as something that would accompany a decent effort, so I gave this Cincy band a chance. At first I was equally interested and confused; the variety of apparent influences on the band were enough alone to cause me to listen to almost the entire album in the store before I finally decided that I would regret no having it. There music is hard to explain. Modern rock, indie, synth-pop, no wave, etc. could all be used at various moments during the album, but hardly for the entire piece. Up until the last seconds of the album, I recognized elements of such an assortment of bands as Orgy, Sonic Youth, Radiohead, Brainiac, and Black Sabbath. I always appreciate artists that are not concerned with adhering to one genre, but rather use whatever sounds best for the specific song, creating a dynamic and compeling album. Chalk, although somewhat sophmoric in the blending of these elements and their ability to give the sounds of their influences a fresh coat of paint, shows great potential and receives my seal of approval."

Flight recorder's seething disorders

Stargrazer | deep in the heart of Michigan | 01/16/2005

(4 out of 5 stars)

"I have to respectfully differ with Music Man's review of this album. Perhaps he is just not into this genre. I bought this CD and was literally unable to take it out of my CD player for about five days. Chalk has done an excellent job -- they've had an artistic renaissance since their debut, "Nothing Left to Do But Die" (which was impressive on its own) -- the sound on "Black Box Broken" is HUGE, the ideas are panoramic. Sure there are links to fellow Ohio-ans Brainiac. But that's a GOOD thing, and the similarities are anything but slavish. There is so much thrown into this album that it is no mean feat that Chalk molds and forms it all into a cohesive slab of loud, nihilistic, textured, FUN electro-punk. There's some Sonic Youth. There's some sounds that recall "Pretty Hate Machine" and some sounds that rock way harder than Trent ever dared. There's some sounds that are distinctly Chalk.



Songs like "Eyelid" and "Nerve Endings of Missing Fingers" get me going. They are on a mix CD I made for my car that I have been listening to constantly. Chalk is a dauntingly impressive studio band, and great guys in person. They don't know me from Adam, yet they treated me with genuine interest and a total lack of rockstar poseurism. If they release more music, I will be in line to buy it. When they are in town, I will be at their shows."